My fellow allergy blogger and I exchanged cookie recipes to get in the Christmas spirit. Organized by Kortney of Allergy Girl Eats
Read moreWe Made the Best Soup EVER with Vegan Goodness
Learn how to make delicious vegan and allergen-free stew and kale scones with this bright new cookbook review.
Read moreSaffron Pepper Soup
This soup recipe calls for couscous, however you can use quinoa instead to make it gluten-free.
You'll need...
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic
3 red shepherd peppers
2 roma tomatoes (they're fleshier and have fewer seeds than field tomatoes)
1/2 carton of vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
the juice of half a lemon
one pinch of saffron
about 1 serving of cooked couscous
Method
1. Sautee the garlic and olive oil until the oil starts to smell fragrant and the garlic is slightly brown.
2. Add the chopped up shepherd peppers and tomatoes, lemon juice, saffron, salt, and pepper, then reduce the heat to medium.
3. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let cook for 45 minutes on low heat with a lid on. Stir often.
4. Remove the lid and let simmer for 15 - 20 minutes until slightly reduced.
5. Ladle the soup into a blender and pulverize til smooth. You can strain out the seeds and skins using a fine strainer but personally I really like the texture so I leave mine au naturale.
6. Pour a ladle of soup into a serving bowl and scoop in some couscous for each diner.
Behind the Scenes of a Food Photo Shoot {video}
Ever wonder how your favorite food photos are created? In this case it was with the use of an old grocery bag and a freshly prepared sandwich on homemade bread. See the full video below.
Love & Lemons & Peonies & Purple
Love and Lemons (not to be confused with the lingerie brand) is not only a popular food blog but is now a gorgeous hardcover cookbook. I recently met Jeanine, the creator of the blog and book, at an event at Indigo's home office in Toronto. She made a couple quick recipes for us to sample and I was impressed by how fresh and bright everything was. I got a copy of the book (yay!) which she kindly signed for me.
Skimming through the recipes I was looking for something allergy-friendly of course, but also something I could make using ingredients I already had in my fridge and pantry. Karrie, star of Guy & Girl Nerd Duo and writer of the lifestyle site Karrie Kwong (above) is a very beginner cook so I made sure to select recipes that were foolproof and fast. Cooking outside your comfort zone is a great way to expand your knowledge, but in this case we were just looking to have fun and enjoy a delicious meal together. I chose two recipes; Coconut Rice with Brussel Sprouts, and Veggie Ceviche.
Coconut Rice with Brussel Sprouts
I love how green this recipe is. So healthy, quick, and easy. In case you haven't heard, plates are out and bowls are in. Vegan bowls, smoothie bowls, rice bowls; they're trending. I highly suggest you buy a small cat bowl like the one pictured above, because it's just so damn cute.
Karrie chopped up the green onion, basil, chili, and avocado, then peeled the Brussel sprouts and cut them in half. She fried them lightly in coconut oil until the sides were golden brown, then whipped up the tangy dressing. The rice was cooked in coconut milk which not only means you get the health benefits of coconut but the taste and richness too. She piled a couple spoons of rice into a deep bowl and then added all the veggies. Jeanine suggests adding other veggies such as asparagus to the bowl. I would definitely do that next time as I felt like I was left wanting for more green and more crunch, despite the recipe being quite satisfying. I think adding more variety would also bulk it up a bit and make it more filling for dinner.
Veggie Ceviche
This is a nice salad to accompany a main course. We served it with the rice bowl above, but I think it would go great with grilled beef or chicken. Love & Lemons is not a vegetarian or vegan book but the recipes are organized by vegetable and so it lends itself to being a generally plant-based cookbook. At her home office appearance Jeanine explained that although she does prefer to eat veggie meals at home, she isn't necessarily a vegetarian 100% of the time. I can definitely relate to that, as I tend not to eat meat at home if I'm cooking for myself, and only really eat it if I'm cooking for friends, family, my boyfriend, or dining out.
This salad consisted of several vegetables and an apple roughly diced, then tossed in a lime and herb dressing. I notice that her style of cooking is light on oil which is such a change from my usual inclinations. I'm all about the olive oil, all the time.
Things we Loved
The book is really easy to navigate as it is organized by fruit/vegetable. You can easily see what you have in your fridge, look it up in the book, and plan a meal around it. In that sense it's very practical.
The recipes are all easy. Even Karrie, who is definitely a beginner and, when handed a sharp knife audibly whined and said "BUT GUYS I DON'T KNOW HOW TO COOK", managed to make this meal in an hour without the loss of any fingers or eyelashes.
Health is front and centre. This is not a diet book by any means but it is definitely an aspirational way to eat.
The photography is stunning and will make you crave all the fruits and veggies! And Jeanine did it all herself. So how do ya like them apples?
Allergy Rating
I can't honestly say that the recipes are super friendly towards allergies, specifically the top 8 allergens. There are a lot of legumes, nuts, cheese, and eggs throughout the book. However I did find that ingredients were simple enough to substitute so it was not limiting. If you know your typical ingredients to sub in, you should be fine.
You can pick up your copy of the book here
Happy cooking!
Sniffle-Healing Chicken Soup
Something dark was lurking on Saturday morning... I woke up stuffed up, hot, shivering, and sniffling. A cold was on the horizon and I was very unhappy about it. So naturally I got a lot of rest and made a big pot of nutrient-rich chicken soup. No boxed stock here, this was all natural. And here's how I did it...
This recipe is free from dairy, nuts, peanuts, egg, soy, fish, shellfish
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 bag baby carrots, chopped
3 stems of celery (leaves on)
1 red onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
2 zucchini, diced
3 yukon gold potatoes, diced
10 button mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
a handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
a handful of pastina made from 100$ durum wheat semolina (small cut pasta such as bow ties or straight noodles)
Method
Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until it becomes fragrant. Season well with salt and pepper. Then add in the carrots, celery, and red pepper and continue to cook until they become translucent and browned. Season again.
Add the potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, and parsley and mix well. Drop the chicken breasts (whole) on top. Fill the pot with water until there are about 3 inches of liquid above the chicken, then bring to a boil on high heat.
Reduce to medium heat and let simmer with the lid askew for an hour. Remove the lid and let simmer on medium-low heat for at least another hour. It should have reduced quite a bit. Stir often.
About 20 minutes before serving remove the chicken and shred using 2 forks. Add it back to the pot along with the pastina. Stir well.
Serve as soon as pasta is cooked. It should yield 6 - 8 hearty bowls